1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wood chippers and, more particularly, to a hood assembly for a wood chipper.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide a wood chipper for chipping wood such as brush, branches and the like to produce wood chips. One type of wood chipper known in the art includes a cutting assembly having a rotatable disc with at least one knife or blade for chipping the wood entering the wood chipper and reducing it to wood chips. Typically, the wood chipper includes a hood assembly surrounding the cutting assembly and having a stationary lower housing and an stationary upper half hood connected to the lower housing and a movable upper half hood hinged to the lower housing for allowing access to the cutting assembly. The hood assembly includes a removable hood pin connecting the upper half hoods together and a locking device to prevent an operator from unintentionally removing the hood pin and opening the hood assembly to allow access to the cutting assembly.
Although this type of hood assembly has worked well, it is desirable to prevent the operator from opening the hood assembly while the cutting assembly is rotating under normal or extreme operating conditions. Therefore, there is a preferred need in the art to provide a hood assembly for a wood chipper to prevent access by an operator to the cutting assembly while the cutting assembly is rotating.